Accountants’ oversight body in questionable deals

Publishing Date : 21 February, 2018

Author : UTLWANANG GASENNELWE

Skeletons have started to tumble out of the Botswana Accountancy Oversight Authority (BAOA) closet, as the newly established regulator tasked with reviewing the public sector audits is embroiled in corruption and flouting of procurement procedures practices, Weekend Post has been informed.

According to highly placed sources within BAOA, this came to light recently when there was a tender in relation to partitioning of their new offices at Central Business District (CBD). It is understood that the said tender was flouted resulting in other companies querying the outcomes of the tendering processes. This is believed to have brought into question whether BAOA is complying with set tendering processes. Further, it came to light that the organisation was operating without a procurement officer. According to an immaculate source close to developments, this has resulted in tenders being awarded willy-nilly.

“Everyone who wants a tender is allocated willy-nilly. An Information Technologist (IT specialist) is currently acting as a stop gap procurement officer. And it appears they are not ready to hire a qualified procurement officer as they may be benefiting out of the deal,” the source told this publication. She also added: “there are also many unanswered questions hovering of how the tender of partitioning the new office was handled. “It is understood that, as such the same companies which are linked to the authority’s executives are dominant in providing services such as catering to the organization from time to time.

However when queried about the concern, BAOA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Duncan Majinda downplayed the scenario saying they came up with Procurement and Tender procedures approved by the Board and vetted by PPADB and the procedures are being followed. “Any non-compliance is enforced accordingly through the normal enforcement procedures of the Authority.” The office is undergoing a new partitioning exercise which has been dragging on for months now; meanwhile the organization is occupying another office and paying high rental fees.

In essence, this means the authority is paying rental for both offices, the one they are occupying at Finance Park and the one under renovation at the CBD. According to sources, the CBD office is BAOA’s new office and they should have already moved in by now. According to the minutes of the last recent meeting the organisation held, passed to this publication, the Director of Finance and Administration reported that the Authority had been occupying the current offices (in Finance Park) for the past four and a half years despite having endured problems such as being stuck in lifts; air conditioners not working and awful rest room smells.

“He reported that the current lease would be coming to an end in December 2017 but with the approval of the Board, the Authority has been able to secure a place in the CBD, behind Masa hotel for its new offices. He stated that if everything goes according to plan some employees would be moving by mid-June 2017 and that by end of June 2017 all employees would have vacated the current premises.” The BAOA CEO played his cards close to his chest when questioned about the costly exercise while falling short of confirming it.

Although they have been renting both buildings for long now, he said that BAOA is only renting only one office at Finance Park but that “we will be moving to Central Business District (CBD) at the end of September 2017”. He added that “the offices at CBD are being prepared for occupation. As the new building does not belong to BAOA, the costs of partitioning being incurred are a capital cost intended to bring the office to the condition that it can be occupied. Because of the requirements of the City Council and the tendering processes involved this takes a bit of time.”

Information further reaching Weekend Post suggests that the authority has also been spending irresponsibly by “leasing” a printer for close to 4 years which raises questions of financial management and acumen. The Toshiba printer is estimated to cost P58 000 - the amount that they easily surpassed while they were hiring it. At the moment this publication can confirm that the authority has since bought a new printer last week replacing the one which has been rented, despite costs already incurred while leasing the Toshiba printer.

When justifying the spending, Majinda said a decision to lease or rent any asset in an organization is a function of many variables including availability of funds at the time to make a cash purchase. “Most organizations prefer leasing to outright purchase so it is not a bad thing to lease,” he said.For BAOA, Majinda revealed that with cash savings from the past, it has become possible to acquire some assets for cash this year. “It is important to clarify at this stage that the Authority reviews its business decisions all the time to ensure their continued relevance and business suitability.”

Strong issues of Nepotism and favouritism at BAOA

While Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Kenneth Matambo appointed the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Majinda to the lucrative post, other Executives’ portfolios are said to be marred with controversies of allegations of nepotism and favouritism.
In the web of nepotism and preferential treatment of staff members, it is alleged that the CEO is a long time friend to the Director of Finance and Administration, Limited Nkani. The IT Manager, who acts as a procurement officer, is also said to be linked to one of the senior managers and that they have previously worked together before joining BAOA.

Insiders say three Accountants were poached from Delloitte, and most of the staff employed are also said to be having a background of association (with each other) somehow. “The CEO and PA to CEO as well as an Accountant are all from Botswana Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA),” the source highlighted.

Ex-DIS officer bullying staff members

An ex Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DISS) officer who is now a Human Resource Manager at the BAOA (names withheld), is said to be maltreating staff members. It is understood that she comes with cases hanging on her head from her previous employer, DISS. “In the web of associates she also came to BAOA through the Director of Finance and Administration.” While at DIS, sources at the BAOA said she left many cases unresolved involving millions as back pays for staff. “She intimidates staff members. She boasts of how she hires and fires staff members,” the source alleged.

That notwithstanding, Majinda told this publication that the authority is not aware of any nepotism and favouritism in human resource issues. “The Authority condemns such practices in the strongest possible sense and if it exists, as you allege, it would be uprooted at the earliest notification,” he emphasized.

Salary structure questionable

According insiders, there is also no salary structure and the top executive management gets lucrative salaries while the lower band gets very low salaries. In terms of the salaries, some staff members with Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) qualification are said to be getting less than an employee with Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). In addition salary bands of drivers are said to be almost equivalent to qualified accountants who are employed on temporary basis.

However the BAOA CEO said they have gone through an elaborate salary grading exercise approved by experts (Tsa Badiri) and based on the Hay Grading System. Every position at BAOA, he added, has been graded and hay points have been attached which determine the positioning of individuals based on their skills and expertise. “All entrants are scrutinized and placed accordingly in their respective grades and promotions then follow in the normal course of events.” According to Majinda the Authority is a parastatal and as such complies with Government policy on salaries and wages.

“The Authority’s salary structure is tagged to the Government salaries and was appropriately approved. Allowances are paid when applicable and no staff is disadvantaged. A salary structure is, therefore, available and applies to all members of staff,” he explained.

Anti-media tactics at organisation

The Public Relations Unit is said to be placed under the auspices of the HR department and not as an independent entity - an anomaly which staff also make an issue with. The authority is said to have censored the staff members from engaging with the media or leaking information that may help the organisation with governance and transparency issues. To buttress the speculation, this week upon Weekend Post inquiries on the state of affairs at the organisation, the management moved swiftly to induce staff members to sign Secrecy forms to compel them not to leak information.

The secrecy clause which has also been passed to this publication states that: “all information obtained during the course of employment with the Authority is confidential, and the strictest secrecy shall be observed by a staff member in regard to confidential information acquired during the course of his duties. A staff member shall not communicate or allow being communicated to any un-authorized person, any information made available to them in their capacity as staff members of the authority unless instructed to do so by the authority’s management, or a court of law.”

It continues: “any breach in terms of this section shall be treated as a serious offence and a staff member concerned is liable for dismissal without notice (summary dismissal), and in addition may be charged with an offence in terms of the Employment Act.” In addition, following this publication’s inquiries (which they later responded to), the organization also re-scheduled a planned staff meeting at the eleventh hour which was to address some staff grievances.